diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ac15ca5b69..ff6a00906a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -174,16 +174,12 @@ curses.o: curses.c keymaps.c curses_keys.h
 bt-host.o: CFLAGS += $(CONFIG_BLUEZ_CFLAGS)
 
 libqemu_common.a: $(OBJS)
-	rm -f $@ 
-	$(AR) rcs $@ $(OBJS)
 
 #######################################################################
 # USER_OBJS is code used by qemu userspace emulation
 USER_OBJS=cutils.o  cache-utils.o
 
 libqemu_user.a: $(USER_OBJS)
-	rm -f $@ 
-	$(AR) rcs $@ $(USER_OBJS)
 
 ######################################################################
 
diff --git a/Makefile.target b/Makefile.target
index 1a02451e5f..a091ce961f 100644
--- a/Makefile.target
+++ b/Makefile.target
@@ -211,8 +211,6 @@ endif
 # libqemu
 
 libqemu.a: $(LIBOBJS)
-	rm -f $@
-	$(AR) rcs $@ $(LIBOBJS)
 
 translate.o: translate.c cpu.h
 
diff --git a/rules.mak b/rules.mak
index 818c5effb0..a4955da9f3 100644
--- a/rules.mak
+++ b/rules.mak
@@ -13,4 +13,7 @@ LINK = $(call quiet-command,$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $^ $(LIBS),LINK $@)
 %$(EXESUF): %.o
 	$(LINK)
 
+%.a:
+	$(call quiet-command,rm -f $@ && $(AR) rcs $@ $^,AR $@)
+
 quiet-command = $(if $(V),$1,@echo $2 && $1)